By Tiernan Ray

Here are some things going on this morning in your world of tech:

BlackBerry (BBRY) is up 29 cents, or 3%, at $9.34, after the stock this morning was halted just before the company reported fiscal Q4 revenue below analysts’ expectations but delivered a much-smaller-than-expected net loss per share of 8 cents, excluding some costs. The stock had initially jumped 7% after resuming trading.

BlackBerry sold 1.3 million units of its BlackBerry handsets, and said it sold through 3.4 million handsets to end customers, reducing its inventory in distribution channels by 30%. BlackBerry ended the quarter with cash and equivalents of $2.7 billion and said it aimed to be break-even on a cash-flow basis by the end of this fiscal year.

On a conference call with analysts, CEO John Chen said the company was ahead of the plan laid out last quarter for trimming operating expenses. “our normalized use of cash from operations is now 30% lower compared to last quarter,” said Chen. On CNBC this morning, Chen talked of building up sales force and engineering teams for the debut of new models later this year.

Maynard Um of Wells Fargo notes this morning, “Revenues were lighter across the board, raising concerns on end market demand.”

Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) are up $2.96, or 6%, at $50.55, after Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty raised her rating on the shares to Overweight from Equal Weight, and set a $60 price target, writing that the company can benefit from her forecast pick-up in spending on consulting industry-wide.

“Six months ago, our model predicted the early innings of cyclical recovery in discretionary spending, which was followed by improved consulting growth at six IT services companies we cover,” writes Huberty. “Our consulting model now projects further acceleration in industry growth, to 6.6% Y/Y in 2014, more than double 3.1% growth seen in 2013.”

Analysts today are reflecting on Microsoft’s (MSFT) press event yesterday, at which CEO Satya Nadella unveiled a version of the company’s Office software suite for Apple’s (AAPL) iPad, and also new tools for companies to manage mobile devices, and said the company would have more to say in coming weeks about hardware and cloud computing.

Nomura Equity Research’s Rick Sherlund, who has a Buy rating, and a $45 target on the stock, writes that “First, it was encouraging to have the CEO of Microsoft visible in a product strategy discussion, laying out in a transparent way the strategic direction of the company that embraces where users are going (cross platform and across different devices) and breaking away from the Windows and PC- centric focus of the past.

“This news was much as anticipated and is directionally positive in signaling the strategy shift for Microsoft in moving to other platforms where users can benefit from access to Microsoft products. It is about serving the needs of users and not so much about whether it hurts Microsoft’s legacy business (Windows on PCs).”

Microsoft shares are up $1.03, or 2.6%, at $40.39.

Bernstein Research’s Toni Sacconaghi reiterates an Outperform rating on Apple stock, and a $575 price target, writing that the current enthusiasm about a forthcoming “iPhone 6” ignores the potential hit to gross margin for Apple of such a device. “While major iPhone upgrades can create stronger consumer interest due to incremental functionality and new form factors, they have historically cost significantly more to make, particularly early on in the product ramp. Moving from the iPhone 3GS to the iPhone 4 and from the iPhone 4S to the iPhone 5, gross margins declined ~900+ bp on a sequential basis.”

Another observer opining about the iPhone 6 today is RBC’s Amit Daryanani, who has an Outperform rating and a $590 price target on the stock. Writes Daryanani, the new device, or possibly two new models, with larger screens, should “drive increased demand.” However, he lowered his June-quarter estimates, writing that “Near-term, we are concerned that June-qtr guide could be below expectations as we see an air pocket from a demand perspective.”

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There are 2 comments

MARCH 28, 2014 11:51 A.M.

Anonymous wrote:

I'd maintain that BBRYs results on exceeding earning expectations came from some odd accounting adjustments and the sale of real estate. Cash continues to burn lower and lower, Chen said BES12 full functionality could take til "end of year" and (on conf. call) Chen is backing down on getting out of the hardware business- they're restatring production of the BOLD.
Theres desperation in the air.

MARCH 28, 2014 2:59 P.M.

@ Anonymous wrote:

I agree. 100%.

Re Chen: He's just rearranging the deck chairs. Federal and provincials are advancing tx returns and realty was a one off plus but attrition continues morbidly. Grave remains in sight.

About Tech Trader Daily

Tech Trader Daily is a blog on technology investing written by Barron’s veteran Tiernan Ray. The blog provides news, analysis and original reporting on events important to investors in software, hardware, the Internet, telecommunications and related fields. Comments and tips can be sent to: techtraderdaily@barrons.com.